How to Tame That Gentle Male Lead - Chapter 5.6
To give up what she wants for the sake of the world.
Resena thought of Vernas. When she recalled having his blue eyes in her sight and watching him sculpt intently, she felt somehow at ease.
‘There are still so many problems…’
And yet, she had only met Vernas once.
Resena rested her chin on her hand as she watched the train enter the station.
“My lady. It’s time to get off now.”
“Okay, I got it. Del.”
As she got off under the harsh sunlight, Luna, who had arrived at the station earlier, bowed her head.
“My lady. Welcome back.”
“Luna.”
Pleased by her welcome, Resena smiled broadly. Watching this from the side, Renard wore a gentle expression, thinking that his sister had indeed changed a lot. In the past, she would have whipped the maids for displeasing her, but now it was good to see her happy about Luna’s welcoming gesture.
‘Sister has really changed a lot.’
He was so proud that she had given useful advice to His Highness the Crown Prince, and even uncovered the dark mages’ trap that no one could have guessed at the summer ball. Moreover, this time she even revealed who becomes a dark mage, making him want to boast about his sister to someone terribly.
“But my lady. The master has instructed you not to come to the mansion, but to enter the palace directly.”
“The palace?”
Resena recalled the letter she had received from the Emperor. Although it didn’t sit well with her, it seemed the Emperor was curious about how she had dealt with the dark mages, and how she had uncovered their identities. Resena reluctantly nodded.
“I understand. Renard. You should enter the palace with me too.”
“Okay. Then Luna. Please take care of the luggage.”
“Leave it to me.”
As Luna instructed the servants to carry the luggage, fifteen knights surrounded Resena and Renard again. Resena headed towards the carriage under their escort.
The scenery of the capital was as lively as ever. Moreover, today merchants were out hawking at street stalls. It seemed they had returned during the ‘festival’ period.
‘The crowd is really huge.’
Summer festival.
People come out and chatter noisily, and wandering jesters and gypsies from all over the country gather in the capital to perform. Lovers come out to gaze at each other and mingle, while families hold hands and walk around, letting out cheerful laughter.
And in the novel, the summer festival is used as a foundation to build affection between Eldis and Lorona. While dealing with the incidents Resena was involved in, the two build up mutual affection, and Eldis is the first to ask her out on a date during the summer festival, making them feel like they are a well-matched pair.
‘But now Eldis has feelings for me…’
It might be fortunate that the Crown Prince isn’t interested in Lorona… But if the world’s destruction ending has a deterrent effect, Eldis will return to Lorona at any time. Then, to prevent that ending, it might be good to give Eldis a lot of advice.
‘Even if he happens to fall in love with the female lead… So that no path to destruction can be opened.’
After firming her resolve, Resena boarded the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace. It was the first time in her long life that she would see the Emperor up close after entering the palace. In her previous regressions, she had only seen him sitting on the throne in the courtroom or ballroom.
A sweet fragrance wafts from somewhere. It seems the roses are still blooming, befitting late July. Resena took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming her racing heartbeat. She couldn’t help feeling nervous at the thought of facing the Emperor.
Perhaps it was because she had repeatedly experienced being found guilty in front of him in her previous lives.
“Sister, are you feeling very hot?”
When Renard noticed Resena’s trembling and asked, she shook her head. The carriage was actually quite cool, as it was equipped with magic stones to prevent heat.
“Actually, I’m nervous thinking about standing before His Majesty the Emperor… How should I put it, I’m anxious.”
Renard let out a low groan, “Hmm.”
“That’s understandable. His Majesty the Emperor has been in power for 30 years now, and he has the full support of the royalists. Anyone who opposes his politics has been eliminated one by one, so it’s very frightening to have an audience with him, fearing to fall out of his favor.”
“Renard. Aren’t you afraid?”
When she asked her brother Renard, who was speaking calmly, he nodded in response.Come to think of it, Renard had occasionally participated in expeditions during Monster Waves and received medals.
“When you meet him in person, he’s not as cruel as his reputation suggests. He’s very kind to the knights… Sometimes when I participated in expeditions, he would give us good words of encouragement.”
It seems he’s kind to the knights led by Eldis. But even so, when I was imprisoned, didn’t he banish Renard to the Desert of Martyrs when he was running around trying to somehow exempt me from my crimes?
‘Could it be that he was angry because I tried to attempt murder on Eldis?’
She was well aware of how much the current Emperor cherished Eldis. But experiencing it firsthand, she could understand why there were almost no people who were hostile to Eldis.
‘But even so, he kept Tom Baker alive for political reasons. Eldis lost reliable knights because of that, and how much was he hurt in the novel because of it.’
“We’ve arrived.”
“Let’s get off.”
“Okay, sister.”
Although the Emperor cherishes Eldis, it seems his favoritism doesn’t extend to his political reasons. After all, the Emperor was someone who wielded tyranny recklessly until Eldis was appointed as Crown Prince.
In the side stories, it seems that ordinary citizens found the Emperor’s squeezing of the nobles impressive, as even now, when he’s not doing that, citizens still show fervent support for the Emperor, but…
‘It’s really splendid.’
As she entered the palace, a corridor coated with glittering jewel powder greeted her. Her mouth automatically opened at the sight of the Imperial Palace, which was far more splendid than the Sapphire Palace used for balls. In her past life, she had only gone between the courtroom, ballroom, and prison in the Imperial Palace, so she kept letting out admiration.
‘They say he’s an Emperor mad with greed, and indeed, the palace is incredibly splendid. How much must have been poured into making it all like this?’
Even the Arnasus family, said to be the wealthiest among the nobles, doesn’t live like this. Rather, they prefer an antique style, mostly decorating with still life or landscape paintings, but the Emperor doesn’t seem to have any intention of hiding the fact that he squeezed the nobles, as the entire palace just sparkles.
After admiring the jewel-encrusted pillars and jewel powder-coated walls for a while, Resena was surprised to see a statue coated with silver powder. Wouldn’t the nobles naturally curse behind his back if it’s done like this? Moreover, it seemed mind-boggling for noble families who had been arrested on false charges of treason by the Emperor’s hand and then reinstated.
‘And our family was among them too…’
Because of the attempted murder charge against Eldis, we incurred the Emperor’s wrath, and not only was I imprisoned, but the entire family was falsely accused of treason and disintegrated. Thinking about it now, it felt like tears might come out involuntarily. Of course, we won’t be falsely accused like that now…
‘I really don’t like the Emperor.’
Even if she were to marry Eldis, she doesn’t think she could treat the Emperor affectionately. Though she won’t be marrying him anyway… Resena stood in front of the audience chamber with a complicated expression.
